Bottle cleaning machine



June 23, 1970 s. F. LOEFFLER 3,516,108

H BOTTLE CLEANING MACHINE I :Filed Sept. 2 6, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 x :ail)

v WWWUTQ J 23 1970 G. F. LOEFFLER 3,516,103

BOTTLE CLEANING MACHINE Filed Sept. 26, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 23, 1970 G. F. LOEF'FLER norm: CLEANING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 26, 1967 Patented June 23, 1970 3,516,108 BOTTLE CLEANING MACHINE George F. Loefller, Barrington Hills, 111., assignor to Thomas Machinery Corporation, Holfman Estates, 11]., a corporation of Illinois Filed Sept. 26, 1967, Ser. No. 670,652 Int. Cl. A471 15/00; B67c 1/00 US. Cl. 15304 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The bottle cleaning machine comprises a horizontal conveyor for delivering bottles in upright position to and from a bottle inverting wheel disposed transversely of the conveyor intermediate its length. The wheel has spaced pockets for receiving the bottles one by one and carrying them to an inverted position and back to an upright position. Automatic air jet means are associated with the wheel pockets for supplying a blast of cleansing air or other fluid to the interior of each bottle while in an inverted position, and means are provided for collecting and removing debris blasted from the bottles.

Characterizing features of the instant machine include convenient adjustment for various sizes of bottles, means for guiding bottles into and out of the wheel while using only a single unitary conveyor, means insuring proper disposition of the bottles relative to the wheel, expedient access to the wheel for repair, adjustment and replacement, and overall structural features providing an economical and foo1-proof machine of long service life.

THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the bottle cleaning machine;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation of the wheel and conveyor of the machine;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section of the wheel and associated components of the machine;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken substantially on line 4--4 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary end view of a bottle receiving pocket of the wheel taken substantially on line 5--5 of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION The accompanying drawings and the following description are intended to acquaint those of ordinary skill in the art with the best mode presently contemplated by me for carrying my invention into practice.

Referring to FIG. 1, a base is adapted for telescopically adjustable reception of an upright pedestal 12 upon which the machine proper, indicated generally at 14, is supported. The pedestal 12 may be adjustably locked in the base 10 by set screws 16 to dispose the machine proper at an appropriate elevation for the machine operator and/or for conjoint use with other machinery, such as a bottle filling machine.

The machine 14 is comprised in essence of a frame 18 supporting a longitudinally extending conveyor 20 having a horizontal upper bottle receiving run, and a bottle inverting wheel, indicated generally at 22, disposed trans-- versely of and above the upper run of the conveyor.

The conveyor 20 may comprise any flexible endless conveyor belt, but for sanitary or pharmaceutical installations is preferably formed of articulated segments of stainless steel or polytetrafluoroethylene, as illustrated in FIG. 4, to facilitate cleaning thereof. The conveyor is mounted on the frame 18 to one side of the pedestal 12 and is supported intermediate its ends by the upper surface of the frame and at its ends by a pair of pulleys 24 journalled in the frame. One of the pulleys 24 is driven by a variable speed motor 26 through the intermediary of a speed reduction device 28 and appropriate pulleys and belts 30, all mounted within the frame 18 below the upper surface thereof. The motor 26 is provided with a manual speed adjusting control 32 extending below the frame 18 for convenient but not inadvertent manipulation of the speed of the conveyor. Preferably, the conveyor speed is adjustable from about to about 120 feet per minute.

Guidance of the bottles while on the conveyor is provided by pairs of side rails 34 extending from opposite sides of the wheel 22 to the respective ends of the conveyor. Each rail is mounted on support rods 36 which are adjustable in upright stanchions 38 provided adjacent one margin of the belt. By appropriate manipulation, the rails may be adjusted laterally of the conveyor to accommodate a wide variety of bottle sizes. To avoid unnecessary duplication of parts, and to facilitate convenient adjustment of the rails, only one set of stanchions is provided for both rails, the rail to the side of the conveyor opposite the stanchions being supported by rods 36 which are bent to extend over the tops of bottles supported on the conveyor.

The pedestal 12 extends through and above the frame 18 to one side of the conveyor and mounts a wheel support and drive housing 40 at its upper end. The housing includes a separable top half accommodating access to the interior thereof. The lower half includes supporting brackets for mounting within the housing a variable speed wheel drive motor assembly 42 and a wheel supporting shaft 44, the motor having driving connection with the shaft by a suitable chain and sprocket drive 46. Preferably, the chain and sprocket drive is coupled to the shaft 44 by an overload clutch 48 accommodating disconnection of the shaft from said drive in the event the wheel becomes jammed or stuck in use.

The shaft 44 is journalled in a bearing 50 supported in the housing 40 and projects axially from the housing in spaced parallel relation to the plane of the upper run of the conveyor 20. At the side from which the shaft extends, the housing 40 mounts a large circular plate 52 comprising one wall of a wheel enclosing housing. Outwardly of this plate, the shaft 44 is provided with a radially extending pin or key 54 accommodating detachable driving connection of the wheel.

The bottle transport or inverting wheel 22 essentially comprises a tubular shaft 56, an end plate 58 secured to the shaft adjacent the outer end thereof, a circular valve plate 60 secured coaxially to the outer surface of the plate 58, a plurality of blocks 62 secured to the inner surface of the plate 58 and defining bottle receiving pockets 64, and an air jet or pipe 66 extending from each of the pockets 64 to the valve plate 60 and having an inlet in the outer surface of said plate.

The wheel shaft 56 is telescopically mounted on the drive shaft 44 and is provided with a longitudinal slot 68 for slidable reception of the drive pin or key 54, whereby the wheel has a quick detachable connection with the drive shaft.

The plate 58 and blocks 62 are formed for reception of particular bottles and include a radially outer pocket portion of a width and height to receive a bottle and a radially inner pocket portion including guide surfaces and a shoulder 70 for guiding the bottle to and supporting it in a predetermined position relative to the respective air jet 66 as the wheel, during its rotation, inverts the bottle and the bottle, under the force of gravity, slides into said inner pocket portion. The bottle when inverted, depending upon the style of bottle, rests at its lip or shoulder on the shoulder 70 and its neck is loosely telescoped over the air jet 66, the jet entering to the vicinity of the center of the bottle and being suificiently small to facilitate egress of debris from the bottle around the jet.

For receiving debris from the bottles, an upwardly open waste or dust pan 72 is provided within the wheel adjacent the axis thereof, the pan being mounted on the wall 52 and extending from said wall substantially to the wheel plate 58. A vacuum hose 74 is connected to the lower end of the pan 72 through the wall 52 and runs down through the housing 40 and pedestal 12 for exhausting collected debris from the machine.

To insure that the debris falls into the pan 72, divider plates 63 provided on the blocks 62 are extended radially inwardly in the space between adjacent pockets 64 to a position proximate to the pan to funnel debris into the pan and prevent passage of debris to previously cleaned bottles.

The transport wheel 22 is enclosed within a housing comprising the Wall or plate 52 and a large cup-shaped enclosure or shroud 76 which is mounted on and detachably secured to the plate by a plurality of circumferentially spaced snap or luggage-type locks 78. The shroud 76 confines the wheel 22 and serves, in addition to its other functions, to maintain the wheel on the shaft 44 and to supply air or other fluid to the jets 66.

Mounted on the enclosure 76 at a point above the Wheel axis in alignment with the circular array of jet inlets in the valve plate 60 is an air inlet assembly in cluding a header 80, a quick detachable coupling 82 for an air hose 84 and a block 86 slidably mounted on the header within the interior of the shroud and normally biased by springs 88 toward the wheel. The block 86 bears on and has sealed, slidable engagement with the plate 60 for continuously supplying air to the valve plate. The block may be provided with a single air supply hole, a plurality of angularly spaced supply holes and/or an arcuate supply slot whereby as the inlet end of each air jet 66 passes the block, a single short blast, a sequence of short blasts and/ or a long blast of air may be supplied to each jet and thus to each bottle received by the wheel. By virtue of the slidable but sealed engagement of the block 86 with the valve plate 60 and continual supply of air under pressure to the block, various jetting actions can be provided very simply and without need for complex valving, intermittently operated valves, or the like.

In addition, the block 86 and plate 60 provide a very simple and convenientbea ring means for retaining the wheel on the drive shaft 44, the springs 88 maintaining a biasing force on the wheel to keep it assembled with the shaft and yet accommodating some axial movement to compensate for wheel run-out or other imperfections.

Further, the cover or enclosure 76 serves to enclose one end of the pockets in the wheel, except at the discharge port to be described hereinafter. To close the other side of the pockets, the present invention provides a highly advantageous and convenient closure means adjustably mounted on the machine for adapting the machine to use in handling a wide variety of bottles. Specifically, the plate 52 mounts on the exterior surface thereof, opposite the enclosure 76, a plurality of (preferably three) closure supporting and gauging devices 90 each comprising a supporting bracket 92 having a flat upper surface and having an axially extending bore therethrough opening into an upwardly open slot. Slidably mounted in the bore of each bracket is a rod 94 having an L- shaped extension or upwardly extending pin 96 on the outer end thereof, the pin extending upwardly through said slot and above the fiat upper surface of the bracket. Within the interior of the wheel housing 52-76, the rods 94 stationarily support an annular pocket closure 98, which by virtue of the rod and bracket mountings is adjustable toward and away from the wheel. The pins 96 are so mounted on the rods relative to the plate 98 that the spacing between the pins and the plate 52 is equal to the spacing between the closure plate 98 and the end wall of enclosure 76, less an increment of space provided between the plate 98 and shroud 76 for purposes of bottle clearance. Thus, to adjust the closure plate 98 for any size bottle being handled, all that need be done is to place a bottle on the flat upper surface of each of the brackets 92, shift the pins 96 to confine the bottles between the pins and the plate 52, and lock the rods in adjusted position by the set screws 99 provided for that purpose.

To change the machine over from one design of bottle to a diiferent design of bottle, all that need be done is to loosen the set screws 99 and retract the pins 96, loosen the snaps 78 and remove the enclosure 76, remove the wheel for the first style of bottle and slide on the wheel for the second style of bottle, replace the enclosure 76, and readjust the pins 96 and the plate 98. A changeover is thus expeditiously effected with practically no downtime on the machine.

To accommodate entry of bottles to the wheel, the

' plate 52 and the adjustable closure plate 98 are provided with inlet openings 100 and 102, respectively, of a size to permit passage of the bottles being handled and aligned with one another and the conveyor 20, whereby the conveyor may feed a line of bottles to the pockets 64 in the wheel. The blocks '62 define a blocking surface between the pockets 64, whereby the lead bottle in the line is retained in place until an empty pocket 64 is rotated into alignment with the inlet 100402, whereupon the conveyor 20 moves the bottle into the pocket and the next bottle assumes the lead position, the latter bottle being temporarily rejected by the wheel due to the presence of the first bottle in the aforementioned pocket and the blocking surface of the next block 62.

To assist the above function, one of the entry side rails 34, preferably the one at the upstream side in the direction of wheel rotation, is provided with a diagonally directed air jet port 104. Air is supplied to this jet via a hose 106 and a separate air control valve 108. As bottles pass this jet, they are straightened and pressed flush against the opposite side rail and held there by the air until an empty pocket comes into alignment with the bottle whereupon the stream of air assists in moving the lead 'bottle straight into the pocket.

Each bottle so received is carried around by the wheel for cleaning and is then returned toward the lower end ,of the wheel, whereupon it slides from the inner end to the outer end of the pocket and is supported by the peripheral wall of the shroud. As the bottle approaches the conveyor, but at a location upstream from the inlet 100-102, the lower end of the bottle engages a diagonal plate 110 which guides the bottle laterally out of the wheel through a discharge port 112 in the end wall of the enclosure 76. For some style of containers, a torsionally mounted spring wire finger 113 is mounted on the shroud 76 opposite the guide 110 for maintaining the containers in upright position in engagement with the guide during discharge. To facilitate the discharge action without interference with the inlet 100-102, and also to facilitate use of a single continuous conveyor 20, the discharge port 112 is staggered slightly from the inlet port 100-102, and the discharge side rails 34 may be curved or shaped to facilitate guidance of the bottle onto the conveyor, as indicated in FIG. 4. To support the bot tle during such transport, the guide 110 may include a support base 114 leading to the adjacent edge of the conveyor 20.

Consequently, as will be appreciated from a study of FIG. 4, one bottle will be discharged from each wheel pocket substantially at the same time as a new bottle is being introduced into that pocket, the diagonal guide 110 assisting both in discharge of the clean bottle and guidance of the entering bottle. Means are also provided to prevent an entering bottle from being moved straight through the wheel pocket and to compel the bottle to be carried through the cleaning cycle by the wheel. This may take the form of a separate dead plate, if desired,

but in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the presence of the diagonal guide 110 in combination with the staggering of the port 112 relative to the ports 100- 102 provides a dead plate effect, as will be observed from FIGS. 4 and 5. Thus, the bottle will be constrained by the guide 110 and the conveyor lapping portion of the end wall of the enclosure 76 to a position in alignment with the wheel so that the bottle will be rotated, inverted and cleaned by the wheel before discharge through the port 112.

All of the supply and control components for the machine are housed in the frame 18, these including an air supply conduit 116, filter 118 and pressure regulator 120 for supply of air to the header 80 and the bottle guiding air jet supply hose 106, the latter preferably being connected between the filter and the regulator for separately regulated flow under control of the valve 108. Also, a control panel 122 is mounted in the frame, the same including a variable speed control 124 for the wheel motor 42. Also, this panel preferably includes variable response control means 126 for a pair of safety switches associated with the conveyor 20, namely a bottle supply sensor switch 128 on one entry side rail 34 for sensing the presence or absence of a supply of bottles on the entry portion of the conveyor, and a discharge sensor switch 130 on one discharge side rail 34 for sensing the presence or absence of clean bottles on the discharge portion of the conveyor. The electrical circuit of the switch 128 includes a variable time delay such that failure of switch actuation for more than a pre-determined time will result in stopping wheel rotation when there is an inadequate supply of bottles tobe cleaned and an attendant danger of improper bottle feed and timing and the wheel becoming jammed. The circuit of switch 130 on the other hand is such that occurrence of switch actuation for more than a pre-determined time will trigger the circuit to stop wheel rotation when the clean bottles are not being removed fast enough and there is no more room on the conveyor for delivery of clean bottles. To facilitate performance of the functions of the switches 128 and 130, the clutch 48 is preferably an electric clutch connected in the circuits of said switches.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the wheel may be operated at a speed of from about two to about ten r.p.m., and may be equipped with as many bottle receiving pockets as can feasibly be accommodated in the wheel. To co-operate with the wheel, the conveyor 26} may be operated at any speed from about 30 up to about 120 feet per minute. The speed of the wheel multiplied by the number of pockets in the wheel will give the bottle cleaning capacity of the machine. In one instance of use of the machine of the invention, a small and rather difficult to handle pharmaceutical bottle was effectively cleaned by a wheel having twelve pockets and a speed of five r.p.m., whereby the production of the machine was 60 bottles per minute.

It is apparent, therefore, that the machine of the present invention provides for effective handling and cleaning of bottles, and does so in an expedient, economical and practical manner. Also, it is manifest that containers other than bottles (e.g.,cans, vials, etc.) can readily be handled by the machine and that the cleansing agent can comprise fluids other than air.

Accordingly, while I have illustrated and described what I regard to be the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be appreciated that various changes, rearrangements and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A bottle cleaning machine comprising a horizontally traveling conveyor for transport of bottles in upright position, a bottle inverting wheel intermediate the ends and above said conveyor, a supporting base for the machine, a. pedestal extending upwardly from said base to adjacent the axis of said wheel, a frame mounted on an inter- 6 mediate portion of said pedestal and supporting said conveyor to one side of said pedestal, a wheel drive housing mounted on the upper end of said pedestal and including a shaft supporting said wheel, said wheel having arcuately nspaced circumferentially open pockets therein for receivmg bottles one by one from the conveyor at one side of the wheel, an air jet in each of said pockets spaced from the circumference of the wheel by a distance greater than the height of the bottles to be cleaned, said wheel upon rotation carrying each bottle to an inverted position and accommodating sliding thereof over the respective air jet, a circular valve plate mounted coaxially of the Wheel on the radial face thereof opposite said housing inwardly of said pockets, each of said air jets having an inlet in said plate, a stationary air header of short arcuate extent shdably but sealingly engaging said valve plate adjacent the top central portion thereof and means continuously supplying air under pressure to said header, said header retaining said wheel on said shaft, each of said jets communicating with said header adjacent the top central positron of the respective pocket for supplying a blast of air into the inverted bottle, a dust pan in said Wheel below the pockets for catching debris flushed from the bottles, and a stationary guide plate adjacent the circumference of the lower central portion of the wheel and extending diagonally thereof for discharging the bottles one by one from the pockets onto the conveyor at the opposite side of the Wheel.

2. A bottle cleaning machine as set forth in claim 1, including a housing for said wheel comprising an end plate mounted on said drive housing extending proximate to sa d conveyor and having a bottle transfer port therein aligned with the conveyor, and a wheel-enclosing shroud detachably mounted on said end plate and having a bottle transfer port therein aligned with the conveyor.

3. A bottle cleaning machine comprising a horizontally traveling conveyor for transport of bottles in upright positron, a bottle inverting wheel intermediate the ends and above said conveyor, said wheel having arcuately spaced circumferentially open pockets therein for receiving bottles one by one from the conveyor at one side of the wheel, an an jet in each of said pockets spaced from the circumference of the wheel by a distance greater than the height of the bottles to be cleaned, said wheel upon rotation carrying each bottle to an inverted position and accommodating sliding thereof over the respective air jet, a circular valve plate mounted coaxially of the wheel on one radial face thereof inwardly of said pockets, each of said air jets having an inlet in said plate, a stationary air header slidably but sealingly engaging said valve plate adacent the top central portion thereof and means continuously supplying air under pressure to said header, each of said jets communicating with said header adjacent the top central position of the respective pocket for supplying a blast of air into the inverted bottle, a dust pan in said wheel below the pockets for catching debris flushed from the bottles, and a stationary guide plate adjacent the circumference of the lower central portion of the wheel and extending diagonally thereof for discharging the bottles one by one from the pockets onto the conveyor at the opposite side of the wheel, and air jet means adjacent said conveyor and said wheel proximate to the point at which the bottles enter the pockets in said wheel, said air jet means being directed toward the bottles and the wheel for driving the bottles into said pockets.

4. A bottle cleaning machine as set forth in claim 3, including guide rails at the sides of said conveyor extending to said wheel, said air jet means being mounted on one of said guide rails and directed diagonally toward the other guide rail and said wheel.

5. A bottle cleaning machine as set forth in claim 1, including control means adjacent said conveyor spaced upstream from said one side of said wheel for sensing the presence and absence of bottles on said conveyor and for discontinuing rotation of said wheel following a predetermined duration of absence of bottles from said conveyor.

6. A bottle cleaning machine as set forth in claim 1, including control means adjacent said conveyor spaced downstream from said opposite side of said wheel for sensing the presence and absence of bottles on said conveyor and for discontinuing rotation of said wheel following a pre-deterrnined duration of presence of bottles on said conveyor.

7. A bottle cleaning machine including a bottle inverting and cleaning wheel assembly comprising a wheel having arcuately spaced laterally open bottle pockets therein, a stationary enclosure for one side of said wheel, an adjustable pocket closure plate for the opposite side of said wheel movable toward and away from the wheel to vary the space between said plate and said enclosure for accommodating reception by the wheel of difierent sized bottles, a second stationary plate adjacent said adjustable plate, said adjustable plate including guide rod means extending through and slidably supported by said second stationary plate, said rod means at the side of said second stationary plate opposite said adjustable plate including a projection spaced from said second stationary plate by a distance equal to the spacing of said adjustable plate from said enclosure less a bottle clearance increment, whereby the spacing between said enclosure and the adjustable plate may be adjusted by placing a bottle between said second stationary plate and said projection and moving said guide rod means to confine the bottle between said second stationary plate and said projection.

8. A bottle cleaning machine including a bottle inverting and cleaning wheel assembly comprising a wheel having arcuately spaced laterally open bottle pockets therein, housing means for said wheel, an adjustable plate paralleling one side of said wheel, said housing including a stationary plate to the side of said adjustable plate opposite said Wheel, said adjustable plate including guide rod means extending through and slidably supported by said stationary plate, said rod means at the side of said stationary plate opposite said adjustable plate including a projection spaced from said stationary plate by a distance correlated to the spacing of said adjustable plate from said wheel, whereby the spacing between the wheel and the adjustable plate may be adjusted by placing a bottle between said stationary plate and said projection and moving said guide rod means to confine the bottle between said stationary plate and said projection.

9. A bottle cleaning machine as set forth in claim 8, said housing including a wheel shroud detachably secured to said stationary plate and comprising means for closing the side of the wheel opposite said adjustable plate.

10. A bottle cleaning machine having a bottle inverting and cleaning assembly comprising a drive housing including a cantilever output shaft having a drive pin thereon, a bottle transport wheel telescoped onto said shaft and having a slot therein slidably but non-rotatably receiving said pin, a wheel housing plate secured to said drive housing, a wheel shroud detachably mounted on said plate and enclosing said wheel and shaft, and means on said shroud bearing on said wheel and retaining said wheel on said shaft.

11. A bottle cleaning machine as set forth in claim 10, said wheel including laterally open bottle receiving pockets, said shroud including an end wall comprising a closure plate for one side of said pockets, an adjustable closure plate for the opposite side of said pockets mounted between said wheel housing plate and the wheel, said adjustable plate including guide rod means extending through and slidably supported by said housing plate, and means for adjustably locking said guide rod means to said housing plate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,255,615 9/1941 Frankel 15304 2,282,474 5/ 1942 Howard 15-306.2 XR 2,896,647 7/1959 Thomson 134-153 XR 3,159,164 12/1964 McBrady l5-304 XR ROBERT W. MICHELL, Primary Examiner 

